JTC extends land leases for new industrial sites, offers more flexible renewals for businesses

Businesses taking up JTC industrial land will get longer leases and more flexible lease renewal terms, in line with the agency’s latest changes to its industrial land lease framework.

The changes come out of recommendations from the Alliance for Action on Business Competitiveness and the work under the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Pro-Enterprise Rules Review, Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng said on Thursday (6 Mar).

Businesses provided feedback that it could take up to three years to build and develop a piece of industrial land – a timeline that reduces the productive period of their lease tenures and affects the viability of their investments, said JTC.

With immediate effect, all new greenfield allocations where new building development is needed will be granted three more years of lease, “so that businesses can enjoy the full 20 or 30-year intended lease term”.

JTC will also introduce a scheme to give companies the option to extend their leases in shorter periods for incremental business investments, said Dr Tan during the Committee of Supply debate on his ministry’s budget.

Eligible companies on JTC’s 20-year leases will be allowed to extend their leases by up to two tranches of five years.

Businesses that show strong economic outcomes in their current lease term and commit to new plant and machinery investments are eligible for the scheme, which will start in the second half of 2025.
 

JTC will allow all lessees to apply for lease renewals 10 years before expiry, extending from the current six years. This enhancement will be put in place in H2 2025.

The agency will also expand its definition of plant and machinery investments to recognise auditable investments in innovation, research and development, digitalisation, as well as intellectual property creation.

Making plant and machinery investments are part of the requirements for businesses to renew their leases.

The broader definition will take effect in H2 2025. It aims to promote value creation and productivity.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry will extend the Land Intensification Allowance (LIA) scheme for five years until end-2030. Companies receiving LIA approval during the next five years will remain eligible for tax allowance on the full qualifying costs over a 15-year period.

From 2026, companies can qualify for the allowance more easily, as building users and LIA recipients can be considered related if they own more than 50 per cent of each other, down from the current threshold of at least 75 per cent.
 

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